It was only at the weekend that SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil said in an interview with the FAZ about foreign policy that "the biggest reproach we have to criticize ourselves as a Federal Republic of Germany" is that we do not listen enough to the eastern EU countries when it comes to Russia to have.

Said and done.

Klingbeil visited Lithuania on Monday and Poland on Tuesday.

Gerhard Gnauck

Political correspondent for Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania based in Warsaw.

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In Warsaw he met Włodzimierz Czarzasty, the leader of the SPD's Polish partner party, the "New Left" (NL), in parliament.

It was a first meeting to get to know each other.

Although social democracy, “the largest and strongest family of parties in Europe” (Klingbeil), is not as strong in Poland as elsewhere.

After all, a left-wing alliance based on the NL accounts for around ten percent of the MPs in Warsaw, making it the third-strongest group.

Klingbeil expressed respect and "great admiration" for Poland's achievement in allowing an unlimited number of war refugees from Ukraine to cross the border since February.

The guest also expressed German loyalty to the common tasks: Germany is supplying weapons, including heavy artillery, to the attacked country and is “unreservedly on the side of Ukraine”.

The memory of the SPD Chancellor Willy Brandt should not be missing, but now we live in a different time than that of détente.

One is confronted with "an imperialist war, with the help of which Putin is trying to shift borders in Europe".

Poland's New Left comes partly from the party of former LGBT activist Robert Biedron, and partly from the old communist state party.

In terms of foreign policy, despite all the other differences, she sees the threat from Russia and the arms deliveries to Ukraine in a similar way to the ruling right-wing PiS and the liberal opposition.

For example, Czarzasty said that as a representative of the Polish Left and of Poland, he would always ask the partners further west to do “even more” for Ukraine, while appreciating their achievements.

His partner "Lars" accepted this point of view "with great acceptance".

Klingbeil affirmed Germany's "leadership claim" in Europe, in the sense of "clever leadership that does not divide, but brings together".

His Polish comrade had nothing against that either: if a NATO ally were strengthened, the others could not object.

On the other hand, it is bad when Poland – meaning the current right-wing government – ​​“spits on Germany”.

When asked about French President Macron's statement that Russia should not be "humiliated" at the end of the war, both reacted sharply.

"We humiliate Vladimir Putin every day," Klingbeil replied.

He meant, however, above all the "courageous resistance" of the Ukrainians, which others provided support to make it effective.

It is also humiliating that the “eleventh largest economy in the world” (Russia) is isolating itself over the long term and driving many bright minds into exile.

Czarzasty went one step further: If Macron thinks he has to advise another country to cede part of his territory to Russia for the sake of his own peace of mind, he should think first and maybe give up a piece of France, for example Corsica.